A TIGHTENED TEAM COMBINING AN Entrepreneurial,investor & management background

The origin of the Kerala Ventures team dates back to 2007

The origin of the Kerala Ventures team dates back to 2007, when Olivier Occelli created NaturaBuy. On this occasion, Oliver was backed by Antoine Freysz as an early-stage angel investor. From 2007, through the exit to Mondadori in 2012, and up to the present day, Antoine has remained an active NaturaBuy Board Member. Antoine and Olivier completed their first joint investment in Doctolib in January 2014.

Bringing specific insight regarding technology and mobile innovation, Marc was part of Antoine’s team at Otium Capital and was significantly involved in the LaFourchette exit process to TripAdvisor in May 2014.

In December 2014, Antoine, Olivier and Marc decided to join forces as Kerala Ventures. Antoine is Kerala Ventures' Managing Director; Antoine and Marc are executive, Olivier is non-executive.

Antoine Freysz

Antoine has a unique track record as a successful venture capitalist, manager and entrepreneur.

From 2003 to 2008, Antoine worked with Travelocity/lastminute.com as Sales Director and then COO managing French operations. At that time, he directly managed 200 employees, including 50 salespeople.

In 2007, he was the first to invest in LaFourchette, a startup he has since closely followed and backed in terms of business strategy, management and organization.

In 2009, he co-founded and was appointed Managing Director of Otium Capital, Pierre-Edouard Sterin's (Smartbox founder and owner) investment holding. Antoine directly oversaw the acquisition of LaFourchette by Otium Capital in 2009. Heading the LaFourchette Board from January 2009, Antoine led the sale process to TripAdvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP) in May 2014.

With Otium Capital, Antoine also launched and directed the startup studio business, founding from scratch Balinea (the leading platform for beauty institute bookings, 800,000 bookings/month in 2015) and Weekendesk, an OTA for weekends, delivering €60 million Transaction Volume in 5 countries in 2015.

Having invested a total of €30 million in 6 years and posted steady returns and gross payoff profiles, Antoine left Otium Capital in 2014 to launch Kerala Ventures.

Olivier Occelli

Olivier has a unique combination of entrepreneurial, management and investment skills. His fields of expertise include marketplaces, software and sales strategy.

Olivier started his career in 1998 as a Production and Quality Manager for DeliFrance, managing over 50 employees in three shifts, 7 days a week.

In 2001, he became Sales Director for IMDS, a leading hosting and IT solutions provider in Western Europe.

In 2007, Olivier founded NaturaBuy, a marketplace dedicated to outdoor sports, hunting and fishing, addressing a €2.5 billion market in France. Within 5 years NaturaBuy became the leading marketplace of its sector, totalizing tens of thousands of transactions each month and €50 million in annual Transaction Volume. In 2012, Mondadori group bought a majority holding in NaturaBuy. Olivier still manages NaturaBuy, developing its service portfolio and new product categories.

Olivier holds a MSc in Engineering.

Board of Directors: Admo, Malt, Naturabuy.

Olivier started his career in 1998 as a Production and Quality manager for DeliFrance, managing over 50 employees in three shifts, 7 days a week.

In 2001, he became Sales Director for IMDS, a leading hosting and IT solutions provider in Western Europe.

In 2007, Olivier founded NaturaBuy, a marketplace dedicated to outdoor sports, hunting and fishing, addressing a €2.5B market in France. Within 5 years NaturaBuy became the leading marketplace of its sector, totalizing tens of thousands of transactions each month and €50 million in annual Transaction Volume. In 2012, Mondadori group bought a majority holding in NaturaBuy. Olivier currently still manages NaturaBuy, developing its service portfolio and new product categories.

Olivier is a Board Member of NaturaBuy (Mondadori Group), Doctolib, Admo.tv and Hopwork.

Olivier holds a MSc in Engineering.

Marc Laurent

Passionate about technology and recruitment, Marc has in-depth knowledge of web applications, hiring strategy and processes.

Marc started his career as an Investment Analyst at Alven Capital. He reviewed investment opportunities, executed in-depth investment analysis and supported Investment Directors in executing deals.

In February 2014, Marc joined Otium Capital as an Associate where he was highly involved in the LaFourchette exit process to TripAdvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP) in May 2014. He also worked closely with Weekendesk and Gault&Millau on strategy, recruitment and product. Marc then left Otium Capital in November 2014 to launch Kerala Ventures.

Marc graduated from HEC Paris in Entrepreneurship and holds a MSc in Mathematics & Computer Sciences from the Ecole Centrale de Nantes.